Gonzalez unfazed by Sox realm, riches

Anaheim  Perhaps only Adrian Gonzalez, being the fellow whose signature is actually on the bottom line, could make a seven-year, $154 million contract extension seem like no big deal. He does allow the tiniest of smiles, however, when you suggest he took the “Boston discount” of $22 million per year to stay with the Red Sox beyond this one season.

Indeed, Gonzalez was in the visitors clubhouse at Angel Stadium before Wednesday’s series opener when asked if he’s ever actually looked at the figure of $154,000,000, with all those commas and round numbers written out before him. His response was a blank expression.

“Why would I?” Gonzalez said. “For what purpose?”

Sheer wow factor? Sense of accomplishment?

“My life is not about money,” said Gonzalez, who signed the new pact less than a week ago. “It’s baseball, the marketplace. It is what it is. And I’m still me. I can’t be anyone else. I won’t change.”

That’s his line, his mantra, and he’s sticking to it. Likewise, he’s sticking to his absolute (and oft-repeated) statement that he’ll be the same person and player in a Red Sox uniform that he was for five seasons with the Padres.

With the start of this four-game set against the Angels _ the Red Sox' only Southern California trip this season and the closest Gonzalez will get to playing in San Diego, barring a rather improbable World Series matchup _ Gonzalez was batting what he called a “decent, not great” .277 with a single home run and eight runs batted in.

Nothing, he said, out of the ordinary.

“It happens every April, happened in San Diego, too,” said Gonzalez, whose 11th-inning double would prove the game-winning hit in a 4-2 win over the Angels. “Pitchers over here (American League) are attacking me with the same mentality they had (in the National League) at the start, busting me in, trying to get me to chase inside. When I prove to them that I’m not going to chase in, that’s when they’ll mix it up. That usually happens in May.

“I went through a little stretch in Boston where I was taking, taking, then I got out of it. I said “I’m going to prove what I can do,” and I started chasing pitches. I saw what a mistake that was and went back to what I was doing., knowing I’ll get more and more comfortable with my hands and that things will get better.”

If he has to keep reminding himself, remember, he’s in a different world now. With their $161 million payroll, the Red Sox started with just two wins in their first dozen games, whereupon the sky began falling all around the Commonwealth in huge chunks.

“In a lot of places, it was, but not on me,” said Gonzalez. “Inside, the game is the same perspective, but the outside perspective is very different. In San Diego, media-wise, fan-wise, organization-wise, everything is even keel. You win, you lose, go get ‘em tomorrow. Here, media, fans, organization, you lose and it’s like you’re never going to win again. You win and you’re the best in the world. It’s all high or low, no in between.